CLAIM In a literary analysis paragraph your claim

CLAIM In a literary analysis paragraph, your claim is the topic sentence. Your claim must support your thesis statement (found in the introductory paragraph). Your claim must control the entire paragraph. Everything that comes after the claim (evidence and analysis) should set out to prove the claim is true.

CONTEXT Plot context sets up what is happening in the story at the time the evidence is used. You need to set up the evidence with the necessary context to provide brief background and to locate the reader in the text. Context is also important because you must show that you are using evidence in context. You cannot simply choose any evidence to fit your claim and argument. It must be correct. It must be in context. Without context, your reader may feel “lost. ” Finally, context should be brief and relevant. Do not give a lot of “book summary. ”

INTEGRATED EVIDENCE You must integrate your evidence. You cannot let evidence “stand alone” or be a sentence by itself. Either lead into the quote or exit the quote with your own words. Alternatively, you can take phrases from the quote and use them in your sentence.

CITATION At the end of the sentence, you need to identify the origin of the evidence. Example: blah” (Smith 36).

ANALYSIS Analysis is an examination and discussion of how and why the evidence proves the controlling idea of your topic sentence or claim. You need to provide analysis so your reader understands how it proves your point. The best way to create analysis is to answer the question, “How does this evidence prove my claim is true? ” DO NOT use the phrase “this quote shows” or something similar. DO NOT simply repeat what the evidence says.

REPEAT Repeat the context, evidence, and analysis as needed, until you have fully supported the claim.

WHY USE EVIDENCE? • Textual evidence is used to support your thesis/argument. It is not used to make the argument for you. • The evidence helps you to prove that your thesis/argument is true. • Evidence gives credibility to your thesis/argument.

HOW DO YOU USE EVIDENCE? • First, carefully select the best parts of the text to support your thesis/argument. • Second, abridge the selection to only the most relevant and strongest evidence. Look for the “power words and passages. ” • Third, integrate the evidence into your own writing. -- Remember, the evidence is there to support your argument, not to make it for you. • Make any changes necessary so that the evidence flows grammatically with your writing.

What is “Evidence Integration”? Evidence integration means incorporating the evidence into your own writing. You cannot let evidence “stand alone” or be a sentence by itself. Do not simply “drop in” your evidence. You must connect the evidence with your own words by using “signal phrases” or by “weaving” it into your sentences.

How Do I Integrate Evidence? Standard Evidence Integration: At a minimum, you must either lead into the evidence or exit the evidence with your own words. These are called “signal phrases. ” Natural Evidence Integration: When possible, you should take phrases from the evidence and use them within your own sentence. This technique makes your argument “flow” better, as you “weave” the evidence with your own thoughts.

Standard Evidence Integration: • • This type of integration uses “signal phrases” to introduce a piece of evidence. It is preferable to use this type of integration when you want to attribute the idea to its source. • • Henry David Thoreau explained, “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. ” Standard integration should be connected to your argument and integrated in a way to allow your reader to understand the relevance of the selected evidence.

Standard Evidence Integration Do not leave your evidence “naked. ” Make sure it is clearly connected to your argument. WRONG: Grendel describes how he knows it is time to start his war again. “I feel my anger coming back, building like invisible fire, and at last, when my soul can no longer resist, I go up" (Gardner 9). Why is this wrong? Note how the evidence is standing alone as its own sentence. You can not do this. You must either lead into the evidence, or lead out of it with your own words.

Standard Evidence Integration WRONG: Grendel describes how he knows it is time to start his war again. “I feel my anger coming back, building like invisible fire, and at last, when my soul can no longer resist, I go up" (Gardner 9). CORRECT: Grendel describes how he knows it is time to start his war again. He states, “I feel my anger coming back, building like invisible fire, and at last, when my soul can no longer resist, I go up" (Gardner 9). FIXING THE ERROR: In this example, by simply adding the phrase “He states, ” the evidence is now integrated with the writing.

How to use “Natural” Evidence Integration

Natural Evidence Integration Whenever possible, try to integrate the evidence so that it flows “naturally” with your own writing. Instead of integrating the evidence by using something like: the character states, “yada, ” use the evidence as an integrated part of your own writing. It makes it better!

Natural Evidence Integration Remember, evidence should never be used to make the argument for you; it should be used to support your argument. Natural evidence integration makes the evidence a part of your own writing, leading to better support. When done correctly, if you were to remove the quotation marks, you should not be able to tell where your words end and the evidence begins. This technique strengthens your writing, and it is the preferred method in college. Natural evidence integration leads to better analysis – which is the point in an analysis writing assignment!

How to Use Natural Evidence Integration Use brackets [ ] and ellipses. . . to change verbs or other parts of the evidence when necessary. Remember: Literature must be written about in the PRESENT TENSE. So, if you need to change the tense of a verb, use a bracket [ ] to indicate the change. Example of Standard Integration: Dwight is a bully who takes out his anger and insecurity on those who are weaker than he is. The narrator states, "This made him furious; on the way back to the car he would kill anything he saw. He killed chipmunks, squirrels, blue jays, and robins"(Wolff 171). Example of Natural Integration: Dwight is a bully who takes out his anger and insecurity on those who are weaker than he is. While hunting, he boosts his ego by "kill[ing] anything he [sees]. He kill[s] chipmunks, squirrels, blue jays, and robins" (Wolff 171).

How to Use Natural Evidence Integration Also, natural evidence integration means making the evidence “flow” with your own writing, as if it were a part of your own thought, which means you must also keep the writing in 3 rd person. Again, use brackets [ ] to indicate a change to person. Example of Standard Integration: Grendel becomes aware of an evil force surrounding him. He states, “I’d be surprised, I had to admit, if anything in myself could be as cold, as dark, as centuries old as the presence I felt around me” (54). Example of Natural Integration: Grendel becomes aware of an evil force surrounding him, yet he does not believe that “anything in [himself] could be as cold, as dark, as centuries old as the presence [he feels] around [him]” (54).

How to Use Natural Evidence Integration Also, natural evidence integration means making the evidence “flow” with your own writing, as if it were a part of your own thought, which means you must also keep the writing in 3 rd person. Again, use brackets [ ] to indicate a change to person. Finally, with natural evidence integration, you may need to ad or omit a word or two in order for the evidence to grammatically fit your sentence or to make it clearer. When you add words, put them in brackets. If you omit any words, indicate with ellipses. Also, keep in mind that you can only insert or omit words provided you do not change the meaning of the evidence.

Natural Evidence Integration Examples Standard: After listening to the Shaper, Grendel states, “I fled. . . torn apart by poetry” (Gardner 44). Natural: After listening to the Shaper, Grendel feels confused and “torn apart by poetry” (Gardner 44).

INTEGRATING EVIDENCE • Do Not lead into evidence with “In line blah” – In line 21 Raffel says that “his heart. . . ” • Do give context with integration: – As Grendel enters Herot and sees the sleeping men, “his heart. . . ”

INTEGRATING EVIDENCE • Do Not Lead Into Evidence with “In the story it says. . . ” – In the story it says, “he journeyed forever joyless. ” • Do give context with integration: – Grendel’s trip to Herot is not one filled with great excitement; it is a trek that he “journey[s], forever joyless” (line 11).

INTEGRATING EVIDENCE • Do Not leave evidence “as is” if it does not make sense grammatically! – As Grendel enters Herot and sees the sleeping men, “his heart laughed, he relished the sight, intending to tear the life from those bodies. ” • Do add words as needed to make the sentence work! – As Grendel enters Herot and sees the sleeping men, “his heart laugh[s], [and] he relishe[s] the sight, intending to tear the life from those bodies” (lines 21 – 22).

ASK YOURSELF: • Is my chosen evidence RELEVANT and is it THE BEST evidence to support my thesis? • Do not choose evidence that has nothing (or almost nothing) to do with supporting your thesis. • Do not choose only the most obvious evidence. • Try to find some great evidence not discussed in class, so that I can see your thinking – not mine.

ASK YOURSELF: • Have I abridged the evidence down to the most supportive, relevant, essential, and focused parts? • Use lengthy quotes sparingly! • Use the evidence to support your argument; do not use the evidence to make the argument for you.

ASK YOURSELF: • Have I changed the verb inflections, added words, or deleted words as needed to fit the grammatical structure and understanding of my sentence? • Remember: Literature is written about in the present tense! Make changes to the evidence as needed using brackets [ ] to fit that tense. • It is okay to add words to the evidence, using brackets [ ], in order to make the sentence clearer, as long as it does not change the meaning of the evidence.

ASK YOURSELF: • Have I asked questions of my evidence? (Example: how specifically does this evidence support my argument? ) • Interact with the text! Break the evidence down. Ask your evidence questions and then answer them!